August 17, 2025Aug 17 #51 Hans-Georg Henke - 16 year old German soldier crying after being captured by the Allies, 1945. "A fifteen year old German soldier, Hans-Georg Henke, cries being captured by the US 9th Army in Germany on April 3, 1945 A sixteen-year-old German soldier, Hans-Georg Henke, cries being captured by the US 9th Army in Germany on April 3, 1945 A sixteen-year-old German anti-aircraft soldier of the Hitler Youth, Hans-Georg Henke, taken prisoner in the state of Hessen, Germany. He was a member of the Luftwaffe anti-air squad who burst into tears as his world crumbled around him. His father died in 1938 but when his mother died in 1944 leaving the family destitute, Hans-Georg had to find work in order to support the family. At 15 years of age, he joined the Luftwaffe. According to the story that Henke maintained throughout his life, he was based in Stettin with a battery of 88mm guns. As the Soviets advanced so the German forces were pushed back towards Rostock. It was here where the Soviets finally overran their unit, that these photographs were taken. He was crying from combat shock, having been mixed in with a regular infantry unit that had been overrun by the US with hard fighting. He was crying from combat shock, having been mixed in with a regular infantry unit that had been overrun by the US with hard fighting. The alternative story is given by the American photojournalist John Florea. He alleges that he took these photographs in Hessen, in the village of Hüttenberg-Rechtenbach, which is just north of Frankfurt am Main. The area in which the photos of Hans-Georg were taken is incontrovertibly Hessen. A number of photos taken clearly show areas of the town that still exist today. Furthermore, as these photos indicate, he was bearing boots when captured and not, as he alleged later, with rags on his feet. His father died 1938 and his mother in 1944. John Florea is adamant that Hans-Georg is not sobbing because his world had crumbled but rather due to combat shock after being overrun by the American forces. The sole motive for Henke modifying his story must relate to the fact that after the war he elected to join the Communist Party and live in East Germany. The East German Communists regarded all those who had surrendered to the Americans as a potential third force. To cover his tracks, Henke changed the story from being overrun by Americans to being captured by the Russians. As a son of a former Communist sympathizer, Hans-Georg himself joined the Communist party and went to live in Finsterwalde in East Germany after the war. He went on to live a full life and died in 1997. Hans Georg Henke lived a full life and died at the age of 69 on October 9, 1997, at Brandenburg, Germany. These desperate photographs have been used extensively to illustrate the effect of the world crumbling around the German populace during the last days of Nazi Germany. (Photos credit: John Florea / The LIFE Picture Collection / US Army Archives)." Source: https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/hans-georg-henke-16-year-old-german-soldier-crying/
June 3Jun 3 #52 German prisoners of war in the U.S.S.R. at a canteen/"commissary". Notice U.S.S.R. banknotes being used, especially the 1 Chevronets (1938) being held by the soldier in the middle of the second image. Source: (First two images) https://www.rbth.com/history/326114-was-soviet-captivity-hell-pows
June 4Jun 4 #53 54 minutes ago, S.ChrisKelly said: German prisoners of war in the U.S.S.R. at a canteen/"commissary". Notice U.S.S.R. banknotes being used, especially the 1 Chevronets (1938) being held by the soldier in the middle of the second image. Source: (First two images) https://www.rbth.com/history/326114-was-soviet-captivity-hell-pows Giving them false hope. They were all doomed.
June 4Jun 4 #54 From a series of photographs showing the ᛋᛋ-Pazergrenadier-regiment 25/ 12.ᛋᛋ-Panzergrenadierdivision "Hitlerjugend" in Rots/La Villeneuve, Normandy, France, published in Stuttgarter Illustrierte on 21 June 1944. Pictured is ᛋᛋ-Sturmmann Otto Funk (6 June 1926 - 11 September 2011), a member of 15.Kompanie. Source: https://ww2gravestone.com/famous-photo-otto-funk-unit-normandy/ German ᛋᛋ-Untersturmführer Kurt Peters from the 37th Regiment 17.ᛋᛋ-Panzergrenadier-Division “Götz von Berlichingen” being searched by Lieutenant Paul Unger of the U.S. 2nd Armored Division at Notre Dame de Cenilly, France on 27 July 1944. Source: https://stabswache-de-euros.blogspot.com/2011/04/12.html?m=1
June 8Jun 8 #56 On 5/24/2020 at 8:58 AM, Brig said: Interesting details in this photo, particularly the removed SS insignia on the visor. Anyone notice the "volunteer tab" of the SS-mann with the CCC? Member of the "Dirlewanger Brigade" of the 36th Grenadier Division...a penal unit that was reconstituted around 1942 with Russian/Ukrainians...and a unit with a notorious history of war crimes...there's a fair chance this guy didn't make it over that bridge.... Phenomenally rare tab to find in a period image https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirlewanger_Brigade Look at their eyes you can see how they feel. A couple of M-43 caps have their insignia removed too.
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